OCC releases list of enforcements dating back to November; 2015 BSA-related order against Wells Fargo terminated

Orders of removal and prohibition, civil money penalties, and personal cease-and-desist orders are among the actions included in the list of recent enforcements released Thursday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The list includes the order of a $3.5 million civil money penalty against James Strother, the former general counsel for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, S.D., that the OCC announced last Friday; and the termination of a consent cease-and-desist order with the bank from 2015 that related to findings of Bank Secrecy Act violations.

Among the other actions noted in Thursday’s release:

  • A $382,500 civil money penalty aassessment last November against USAA Federal Savings Bank, San Antonio, Texas, related to violations of federal flood insurance requirements;
  • A $10,000 civil money penalty and personal cease-and-desist order against Bradley J. Lyon, former chief financial officer of Golden Pacific Bank, N.A., Sacramento, Calif., over alleged manipulation of the bank’s expense and accrual accounts that led to the bank’s filing a materially inaccurate call report for Dec. 31, 2018;
  • A notice of charges filed for a personal cease-and-desist order and $30,000 civil money penalty assessment against Neil Bassi, former president, chief executive officer, and board chairman at cfsbank, Charleroi, Pa., over violations of fiduciary duty that left unchecked millions of dollars’ worth of overdrafts by “Customer-1,” described in the order as “a group of related individuals and corporate entities that had numerous deposit accounts and loans with the Bank” and which was the bank’s largest credit customer at the time.

The recent list also includes three prohibition orders.

OCC Enforcement Actions and Terminations

RR: Former top lawyer for Wells Fargo agrees to $3.5 million fine, cooperation (Jan. 15, 2021)